


Of Grey Hats and Red Cloaks

by JunkMail



Series: Gathering the Pieces [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hacker Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Spy Setting, Gen, Hacktivist Ruby Rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 15:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12061452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JunkMail/pseuds/JunkMail
Summary: To the wider world of Remnant, Ruby Rose was a normal fifteen year old college student. Gifted in computer sciences and technology, but otherwise considered to be unremarkable.However, to the criminal underworld and the Internet's dark web, she was known as the Red Riding Hood. One of the underworld's most infamous and notorious cyber-hackers. An anti-corporate, pro-faunus activist and self-admitted adrenalin junkie. She is the self-proclaimed 'best hacktivist ever'.That is, until she was contracted to break into the Schnee Dust Company's local Vale headquarters and insert spyware into the CEO's personal computer.First in the “Gathering the Pieces” series.





	Of Grey Hats and Red Cloaks

**~ I don’t own RWBY, all copyrighted content goes to their respective owners ~**

* * *

 

**Of Grey Hats and Red Cloaks**

**“ _I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavour to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death._ ” – Monty Oum.**

**Red: The Activist**

From the roof of an office block across a busy street, a woman’s ice-blue eyes narrowed in focus, spotting a flash of red coloured movement in the company office building opposite.

“She’s in the building.”

A small cloud of white mist accompanied her words, the cold night air making her words briefly visible.

She didn't mind the cold, she had long since become accustomed to it. Though the fact that she wasn't having to wear one of her masks tonight was surprisingly refreshing. From the headset neatly attached to her left ear, the calm voice of her superior came through with minor static.

_“Do we know how she managed to gain entry?”_

Flicking her eyes to her wrist, the woman shook her head, despite knowing her superior couldn’t possibly see the motion.

“Unknown, all of the buildings alarms are still active, but none have been tripped.”

There was the briefest of pauses, before her superior replied. _“Understood, monitor the situation, but do not become involved.”_

Communicating an affirmative, the woman stood up and started moving, heading for her next vantage point with a confident stride.

* * *

Despite herself, Ruby couldn’t help but let a grin breakout across her face.

The adrenalin rush that always coincided with the thrill of breaking and entering exhilarated her like nothing else. But before she got ahead of herself, she calmed down and tempered her giddiness. She had a job to do, only once it was completed could she think about playing.

Turning a corner at speed, she ignored the security cameras aimed her way, confident that her earlier hack into the buildings security system had them playing on a loop, showing anyone who looked nothing but empty hallways and office cubicles.

Coming to a door marked ‘Chief Executive Officer’, she slowed down to a light jog. The possibility of human security here was more likely, not to mention that she had been unable to find any sort of reliable blueprint for this floor.

Easing the door open slowly, Ruby was confronted with what looked like some sort of waiting area, with what looked to be a secretary station posted at the other end of the room, directly opposite the door.

The room itself was sparsely decorated, with what looked like pure white walls and a light blue carpet. It had a distinctly cold look to it when Ruby momentarily viewed it in the dark. The only reason Ruby could see anything with any detail without turning on any lights was the pair of night vison goggles she had fixed over her head and eyes.

Moving through the waiting room, Ruby approached the door set next to the secretary station. The heavy wooden door, elaborate gold and silver door handle, and a large gold plaque that read: CEO Jacques Schnee, practically screamed ‘wealthy ostentatious prick’ to her.

The door also had an old fashioned looking keyhole set into the wood, which no doubt required a physical key made of metal to open. The CEO of the Schnee Dust Company obviously felt the need to employ both high and low-tech security to protect his company’s assets.

Not that a simple mortice lock would stop Ruby Rose, infamous cyber-hacker, anti-corporate and pro-faunus activist, and only known to the wider world as the Red Riding Hood.

Getting down onto a knee and flipping up her night-vison goggles, Ruby pulled a small LED torch out of one of the pockets in her cargo pants, and shined it into the lock.

Squinting against the bright light, Ruby managed to identify the lock as a five-lever mortice deadlock, something she might have found in the front door of someone’s house, rather than inside a CEO’s office door.

Having identified the problem, Ruby reached into her cargo pants and pulled out her set of lock picks, sifting through them until she found the two she needed.

Popping her torch into her mouth, Ruby brought her picks up to the door and began the arduous process of slowly and delicately unlocking each lever, picking the lock with slow but practiced ease.

All in all, it took the red-headed teen under four minutes to open the door, but finally, with one more resounding ‘ _click’_ the heavy wooden door swung open, revealing the luxurious interior of the CEO’s office.

The first thing she saw was a large and ornate looking oak-wood desk, with two high-quality 4k computer monitors sitting on one side, while the other side remained free of obstructions, allowing a clear view of the door.

Rushing over to the desk, Ruby was quick to pull the chair away from where it had been tucked neatly under the desk, and peered under, spying the powerful looking computer she had put so much effort into getting at.

The first thing Ruby did was pull an innocent looking USB from one of her pockets and, after pulling her bag from her shoulders, crawled under the large desk, moving around to the back of the computer and finding the dustiest looking USB port she could find.

Once inserted, Ruby crawled back out and booted the PC up, which cast the surrounding office in a harsh blue glow when the two monitors almost instantly flickered to life. Barely a moment later, she had a security screen appear on screen in front of her, demanding a password, though this didn’t faze her. Pulling up the chair she had moved aside earlier, Ruby sat down and began to type.

* * *

From her new vantage point, the woman pulled out a pair of high-powered binoculars, and put them to her eyes, the electronics within automatically boosting the light levels and zooming in to the glass floor-to-ceiling window that held a faint glow.

The red blur she had seen before was more easily identified now as a woman wearing a dark red hoodie and backpack, the slim build and small height signifying the likelihood of it being the person they were expecting.

But what stood out most to the woman watching was the distinct logo printed onto the back of the hoodie. A faintly printed silver stylised rose. From what the woman had been briefed, this symbol was well known on the dark-web as the calling card of a very talented hacktivist.

Very few knew this person’s real identity, the majority of the underworld community didn’t even know which kingdom she was from. All that was really known about her was that she was a woman, who commonly went by the nick-name ‘Red Riding Hood’.

Her superior was one of the few people on Remnant who knew the Red Hood’s real identity, and tonight was setting up to be little more than a test of skill. A rare chance to observe the young woman in action and assess her capabilities.

* * *

Hitting the last key, Ruby powered the computer down and moved the chair back into the exact same position it had been in before she had arrived. Checking her watch, she nodded to herself. She’d been in the building for a little under fifteen minutes, and factoring in her little side project, she should be out within thirty.

Making sure to lock the door behind her, Ruby set off, heading for the nearest staircase. She would need to be quick, the cleaning staff would be moving further up the building, and she needed to time it so that she passed by them while they were within a floor.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Ruby kept her hearing sharp. Unlike the offices she had just left, the lights above her were still on, and getting caught at this juncture would cause serious issues she didn’t want to think about.

Hitting the ground floor, Ruby carefully opened the door and checked both ways before moving forwards. Making her way to the front entrance, she was careful to stay within what shadows there were, mindful that there was physical security on this floor who made more regular patrols.

Finally coming to the main entrance, Ruby surveyed it with a careful eye. Quickly noting the three security guards that manned the security station at the front door, the positions of all ten cameras, and only once she was satisfied that there was nothing unexpected, did she pull back around the corner.

Shrugging her small backpack off her shoulder, she pulled her night vison goggles off her head and stuffed them into a side pocket, before grabbing the black motorcycle balaclava that hung loosely around her neck and pulled it up over her nose.

With her hoodie covering the majority of her head, and her balaclava covering her lower face, she pulled her bag back onto her back and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Unlocking it, the screen instantly displayed a multitude of scrolling subroutines and active code.

Hitting a small icon at the bottom left of the screen, the rush of data vanished, replaced with a set of simple programming options.

With a few more taps, Ruby inserted pre-recorded surveillance footage of herself breaking into one of the back doors into the CCTV Archives, making sure to date it a few minutes ago, before switching over to the program that was currently looping the footage of every camera in the building.

With the press of a button, the program shut off, and the buildings internal security began to work unhindered. With her final work accomplished, Ruby once again leaned around the corner, happy to see all three security guards were where she had left them.

Considering what she was about to do next would no doubt set off a million different warnings, she was going to have to be fast.

Pocketing her phone, Ruby reached around and pulled a mall matte black object free from where it was attached to the bottom of her bag. Quietly extending it to its full height, it was revealed to be a heavy-looking police baton. After ensuring that the weapons strap was firmly wrapped around her wrist, Ruby made her move.

Darting forwards as fast as she could, she raced towards the three security guards sitting at their stations.

Unfortunately, they were alerted to her presence early by the squeaking of her trainers on the pristine tiled floor, and the smallest of the three guards managed to turn his head and see her before she could hit him.

His shout of surprise was cut short by a swift strike to his gut, causing him to double over and stagger to the left. Her second upwards strike hit him in the temple, knocking him backwards, before he hit the ground with a muffled ‘ _thump’_ , taking him out of the fight.

By this time, his two other friends had gotten over their surprise, with the thinner of the two pulling a baton of his own, while the other was reaching for the Taser strapped to his hip, fumbling with the protective strap holding it in place.

Making a snap decision, Ruby focuses on the thinner of the two with the baton. Swinging high, she isn’t surprised when the guard blocked her attack with his own baton. She was, however, surprised he reached out and grabbed a fist full of her hoodie, and swung around, throwing her into a nearby wall.

The back of her head connected painfully with the stone wall, and on instinct Ruby threw up her baton, managing to deflect an overhead strike that would have otherwise have struck her on the head. As the guard moved forward into her personal space, looking to get inside her guard, Ruby unleashed her second-to-last surprise.

Having long understood the danger of having someone twice her size and weight within grapping range from her many sparing sessions with her sister, Ruby had long since developed ways to counter such issues.

Sliding a small switch on the handle of her baton, the security guard’s only warning was the small sparks of electricity that arced across the business end of the modified police baton, before Ruby jabbed the end of it into his stomach, and sent forty-five thousand volts of electricity into his body.

Even as the guard’s shuddering body hit the floor, Ruby tuned to the last guard, who had finally managed to successfully pull free his own Taser, and was now aiming it steadily at her chest.

“Freeze! Drop the weapon and put your hands in the air!”

Blinking in surprise, Ruby paused. She had honestly expected the guard to just shoot her, considering what she had just done to his friends. In the sudden silence that fell upon them, the only sound was her own heavy breathing and the groans of the two security guards on the floor.

Mentally hitting herself over the head for actually freezing, Ruby darted forwards. The remaining security guard, who had begun moving steadily closer, jerked in surprise, seeming to pull his weapon’s trigger on little more than instinct.

Two barbed pieces of electrified metal shot out and hit Ruby in the middle of her chest, the tell-tale sound of rapid clicking from the Taser proving that the weapon was active. But instead of shrieking and collapsing in a pile of jittering nerves, Ruby took the hit without even a flinch of pain, before jabbing her electrified baton into the man’s stomach.

As the shocked security guard collapsed in a heap, Ruby breathed out a sigh of relief, patting her chest where the two metal prongs from the Taser were still protruding from the front of her hoodie.

It had taken an embarrassing amount of time and numerus bloody fingers to get the hang of her mother’s old sewing machine, but making the decision to add a layer of Carbon Fibre Tape to the inside of her hoodie was defiantly proving to be worth it.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Ruby surveyed her handiwork. For a woman of her size and age, she was rather impressed with herself. Three grown men, all at least twice her size, all armed with some sort of weapon, and all taken out within minutes.

After giving a slight prod with her baton to the only security guard she hadn’t tased, Ruby tuned to the large white wall that dominated the back of the entrance hall, marked only with the official Schnee Dust Company emblem, and smiled behind her balaclava.

Dropping her bag, ruby opened the main zipped compartment and pulled out one of her favourite stencils, along with a can of dark red spray paint, before happily getting to work.

* * *

Ten hours later, Ruby was awoken to the sound of someone banging heavily on her bedroom door. Momentarily panicking, she tried to leap from her bed and reach her closet, where she had stashed her bag and electric baton the night before.

However, her feet became entangled in her sheets in her haste, and Ruby didn’t realise this until she had reached the edge of her bed, ending up face planting onto her carpet floor with a small squeak of surprise.

Before she could embarrass herself further, her door opened and her sister leaned in, looking conflicted between giving her an angry glare and bursting out laughing. But before Ruby could try to salvage her pride and dignity, the anger won out on her sister’s face, and her golden-haired sister pointed a finger at her.

“Downstairs. Now.”

Worry starting to seep in at the serious expression on her sister’s face, Ruby untangled herself and followed her sister out of her room and downstairs towards their kitchen.

Walking into their rather modest but modern kitchen, Ruby was greeted to the presence of two strangers, one of whom was sitting at their dining table, drinking something from a white mug, while a woman wearing a dark purple suit and glasses stood behind him, standing at an at-rest position with her arms folded neatly behind her back.

Behind the both of them, the small TV fixed to the wall was switched on, and while it was muted, Ruby could see that it was displaying a local news channel. The banner that scrolled across the bottom read: “ _Break in at Schnee Dust Company Local Headquarters – Three Security Personnel Assaulted, Alongside Vandalism of Prominent Company Logo._ ”

Above, the news channel switched to that of a picture of the Schnee Company Headquarters’ main entrance, taped off with stark yellow police tape, and the Dust Company’s prized white and silver logo painted over with the dark red mark of her own.

Wincing, Ruby focused her attention back onto that of the two strangers, trying to ignore the angry look her sister was giving her from across the room and the glare she was getting from the woman in purple. She was so busted.

“Miss Rose” The man sitting at the table addressed her, steepling his fingers in front of him. “My name is Director Ozpin of Vale’s High Security Council. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask you a few simple questions.”

Ruby winced again, taking a seat at the opposite end of the table. She was oh so _definitely_ busted.

“And, pending how you answer them, I may have a… specific task, for you.”

…

Wait… what?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little something that I’ve had rocking around inside my head for a while, and I recently applied and received an account here on AO3, so I thought this would be a good way to test all the posting and formatting stuff.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think! I was surprised by how much fun I had writing this, so I wouldn’t be opposed to continuing this story, perhaps with one-shot ‘trailers’ for each of the RWBY cast and their roles in this universe.
> 
> UPDATE: “Of Blue Blood and White Masks” is now out, and is linked in the “Gathering the Pieces” series. 
> 
> Until next time,  
> ~JunkMail


End file.
